Maurice Gran
Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the British sitcom, sitcoms ''The New Statesman (1987 TV series), The New Statesman'', ''Birds of a Feather (TV series), Birds of a Feather'' and ''Goodnight Sweetheart (TV series), Goodnight Sweetheart'' with Laurence Marks (British writer), Laurence Marks. Their theatre works include ''Dreamboats and Petticoats'', ''Save The Last Dance For Me'' and ''Dreamboats and Miniskirts''. Biography Gran lived in Finsbury Park Road as a child and his father was the manager of a fabric shop in Soho. He attended William Ellis School, a grammar school for boys in Highgate. He then rose to be the manager of the Job Centre in Tottenham, whilst writing scripts with Laurence Marks (British writer), Laurence Marks which they submitted to the BBC. The duo had begun writing together after they met at a discussion group for writers that was held within ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. Terminology In the silent era, writers now considered screenwriters were denoted by terms such as photoplaywright, photoplay writer, photoplay dramatist and screen playwright.Steven Maras. ''Screenwriting: History, Theory and Practice.'' Wallflower Press, 2009. pp. 82–85. Screenwriting historian Steven Maras notes that these early writers were often understood as being the authors of the films as shown and argues that they cannot be precisely equated with present-day screenwriters because they were responsible for a technical product, a brief "scenario", "treatment", or "synopsis" that is a written synopsis of what is to be filmed. Profession Screenwriting is a freelance profession. No education is required to be a professional scree ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Ellis School
William Ellis School is a voluntary aided secondary school and sixth form for boys located in Highgate, London, England. Admissions The School is located near Hampstead Heath. It is situated just east of Parliament Hill and north of Gospel Oak railway station. It is next to Parliament Hill School, a girls' school. Up to 10% of places are offered to boys with an aptitude for music as determined by a music aptitude test. History Origins The school's founder, William Ellis (not to be confused with the inventor of rugby football, William Webb Ellis) was a public-spirited businessman. In the mid-19th century, Ellis founded a number of schools and inspired many teachers to promote his educational ideas. Ellis wanted children to be taught "useful" subjects such as science (including "Social Science"), and to develop the faculty of reason; this was in contrast to the learning by rote of religious tracts, ancient languages and history, characteristic of many schools at the time. Wil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episode interposed in the midst of serious or tragic elements in a drama. Comic relief is often seen but is not limited to, taking the form of a bumbling, wisecracking sidekick of the hero or villain in a work of fiction. A sidekick used for comic relief will usually comment on the absurdity of the hero's situation and make comments that would be inappropriate for a character who is to be taken seriously. Other characters may use comic relief as a means to irritate others or keep themselves confident. Application Sometimes comic relief characters will appear in fiction that is comic. This generally occurs when the work enters a dramatic moment, but the character continues to be comical regardless. External comic reliefs and internal comic reli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Relative Strangers (TV Series)
''Relative Strangers'' is a British comedy television series which originally aired on Channel 4 between 14 January 1985 and 9 March 1987.Vahimagi p.302 Main cast * Mark Farmer as John * Matthew Kelly as Fitz * David Battley David John Battley (5 November 1935 – 20 January 2003) was a British actor of stage and screen, mainly appearing in comedy roles. Early life Battley was born at Battersea, London, the elder son of John Battley, a post-Second World War Labour ... as Gerald * Bernard Gallagher as Percy Fisher References Bibliography * Vahimagi, Tise . ''British Television: An Illustrated Guide''. Oxford University Press, 1996. External links * {{IMDb title, id=0088592 1985 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings 1980s British comedy television series Channel 4 sitcoms English-language television shows Channel 4 original programming ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ITV (TV Network)
ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was for four decades a network of separate companies which provided regional television services and also shared programmes between each other to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs the ITV1 channel, and STV Group, which runs the STV channel. The ITV network is a separate entity from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004. ITV plc holds the Channel 3 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Personal Assistant
A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties. Duties, responsibilities and functions An assistant helps with time and daily management, of meetings, correspondence, and note-taking. The role of a personal assistant can be varied, such as answering phone calls, taking notes, scheduling meetings, emailing, texts, etc. In business or personal contexts, assistants are people who provide services that relieve his or her employer from the stress of tasks that are associated with managing one's personal and/or business life. They assist with a variety of life management tasks, including running errands, arranging travel (e.g., travel agent services such as purchasing airline tickets, reserving hotel rooms and rental cars, and arranging activities, as well as handling more localized serv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony Blair's Premiership of Tony Blair, government from 1997 to 2007, and was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2015, first for Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency), Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (UK Parliament constituency), Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He is the most recent Labour politician as well as the most recent Scottish politician to hold the office of prime minister. A Doctor of Philosophy, doctoral graduate, Brown studied history at the University of Edinburgh, where he was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh, Rector in 1972. He spent his early career working as both a lecturer at a further education college and a t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prudence At Number 10
Prudence at Number 10 is a fictional diary purporting to be the private thoughts of Prudence Harbinger, former (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Director of Media Liaison, but actually written for publication in British newspaper ''The Sunday Telegraph'' by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the authors of the column's predecessor ''Alan B'Stard The ''New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, ...'s Diary''. In the first episode {cbignore, bot=medic we are introduced to a single fast-track career civil-servant who carries a torch for the Iron Chancellor since working on h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Barry Took
Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Horne'' and other projects. He is also remembered in the UK for presenting ''Points of View (TV series), Points of View'', a BBC Television programme featuring viewers' letters on the BBC's output, and the BBC Radio 4 programme ''The News Quiz''. Early life and education The son of a manager at the Danish Bacon Company, Took was born in Victoria Road, Muswell Hill, north London, and lived in Winton Avenue, Bounds Green. When Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II, evacuated to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire during the Second World War, he ran away from his assigned home there, cycling 20 miles to Peterborough in order to get a train back to London. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2005 and Edith Florence Howard (née Morrison, 1888–1962), at the City Hospital in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). His mother worked at the Rowntree's chocolate factory. For his first two and a half years, Howerd lived in a terraced house at 53, Hartoft Street. He described it as "a poorish area of the city near the River Ouse". He later said he had only one memory of living in York and that was of falling down the stairs, an experience which left him with a life-long dread of heights. He returned to York on many occasions for family holidays, however, and later in life spoke of his fondness for the city. His family moved to Eltham, London when he was a young child, and he was educated at Shooter' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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All-England Theatre Festival
The All-England Theatre Festival ("AETF") organises the only countrywide eliminating contest for one-act plays in performance throughout England. It provides an opportunity for Amateurs to compete against like-minded groups and to benefit from the adjudication they receive to improve the quality of their performance. The AETF also maintains contact with other leading bodies involved in Amateur Dramatics throughout the United Kingdom by means of its membership of the Central Council for Amateur Theatre, The Drama Festivals Consortium and the British Finals Standing Committee. The festival is also involved with the Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy Competition, in conjunction with the other 'Hosts' of the British Festival, to judge original unpublished scripts that are first produced within the relevant festivals. History British Drama League The history of the All-England Theatre Festival dates back to 1919, when the British Drama League was formed. The public inauguration of the league ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |